Impact of the Number of Remaining Natural Teeth on Decompensation and Survival in Patients With Compensated Liver Cirrhosis.

Authors

Tatsuya Nakatani, Tadashi Namisaki, Hiroaki Takaya, Takashi Inoue, Akihiko Shibamoto, Satoshi Iwai, Masafumi Oyama, Junichi Hanatahi, Naoki Nishimura, Yuki Tsuji, Yukihisa Fujinaga, Shinya Sato, Norihisa Nishimura, Koh Kitagawa, Kosuke Kaji, Akira Mitoro, Takemi Akahane, Hitoshi Yoshiji

Published in

Hepatology research : the official journal of the Japan Society of Hepatology. Jul 13, 2026. Epub Jul 13, 2026.

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of oral health, measured by the number of remaining natural teeth, on hepatic decompensation and survival in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis.
This retrospective cohort study included 106 patients with Child-Pugh class A cirrhosis who were followed longitudinally until March 2024. Patients were stratified by number of remaining natural teeth with fewer than 20 teeth classified as poor oral health according to the concept of functional dentition. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with hepatic decompensation and overall survival. Associations between tooth number, sarcopenia, and endotoxin activity were also evaluated.
During follow-up, 26 patients developed hepatic decompensation and 26 died. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with fewer than 20 remaining natural teeth had significantly higher rates of hepatic decompensation and poorer overall survival than those retaining 20 or more teeth. In multivariate analysis, fewer than 20 teeth were independently associated with hepatic decompensation (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-5.40; p = 0.032) and mortality (HR: 2.32; 95% CI, 1.01-5.34; p = 0.048). Patients with fewer teeth exhibited a higher prevalence of sarcopenia and significantly increased endotoxin activity.
Severe tooth loss was independently associated with hepatic decompensation and mortality in compensated cirrhosis. Oral health assessment using the number of remaining natural teeth may provide a simple and clinically valuable tool for prognostic stratification in patients with cirrhosis.

PMID:
42438897
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Jul 2026.

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